Alexei Navalny urges anti-Kremlin campaign as new trial begins

A view of a TV Screen showing Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, 2nd left, stands between his lawyers in a courtroom, via video link provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, during a preliminary hearing, in Melekhovo, Vladimir region, about 260 kilometers (163 miles) northeast of Moscow, Russia, on Monday, June 19, 2023. A Russian court has opened a new trial of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny that could keep him behind bars for decades. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has urged his supporters to begin a broad campaign against Moscow’s actions in Ukraine as he went on trial on new charges of extremism that could keep him behind bars for decades.

The trial began inside a maximum security penal colony in Melekhovo, 150 miles east of Moscow, where Navalny, 47, is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court — charges he says are politically motivated.